I Hadn't Anyone Till You
by wordswordswords
Summary: As Monk and Sharona's relationship changes, will their newest case change them? Reads as if Sharona never left. Title from a song by Thelonious Monk, last chapter up soon.
1. Body and Soul

Adrian Monk woke up every morning at the same time. On each morning he would shower, dress, and further tidy and cleanse himself in exactly the same manner, order, and (for the most part) amount of time. However, on this particular morning something was different. His alarm hadn't gone off, the sun was definitely further up than it should be, and he couldn't move to his right. This is the moment he looks down, opens his eyes, and then immediately closes them again.

_Sharona_ was lying next to him. No, that wasn't even the worst part. Sharona was lying next to him clothed only in one of his white undershirts. Actually, it was the undershirt he happened to _not_ be wearing at the moment because Sharona currently was.

Monk, who was now past the eye-closing this-is-not-real stage and quickly transferring into the oh-no-what-did-I-do stage, slid his arm off from her midsection (which he hadn't realised it had been until just this moment) and tried to slip out of the bed silently and gracefully enough to not wake her. This, of course, did not happen because that would be too easy.

Just as he stood up off the bed, the rumpled-looking Sharona in his bed woke, turned towards him, and smiled.

"Adrian?" She asked; the smile turning into a frown as her confusion grew.

"Uh- I uh… need to get a- uh, drink." He said nervously, turning to walk towards the door, and as he did so he realised that he was without any clothing, even underwear. Adrian blushed profusely and quickly searched the room for his misplaced boxers, finally finding them at the foot of the bed, wrapped around a bedpost. He glanced over at Sharona, noticing her playful smile as she watched him. It was then that he remembered how exactly they ended up in this situation.

* * *

_Sharona had been upset. Something about a pay cheque, that much was certain. Adrian wasn't paying much attention to the words she was speaking, mostly because of the small stain located on the left sleeve of her almost-too-small-for-her t-shirt, and partly because he had had an odd urge lately to sweep her into his arms and kiss her senseless that he desperately needed to quell. _

"_Adrian, you have to pay me. Benjy has a class trip to the zoo, I need money for that!" She was almost turning red now. _

"_I'm sorry, Sharona," Monk said, quickly displacing his concentration from that pesky brown spot (and his admiration for her better physical attributes) to look her in the eyes, "Uh- how about I take you out… you know- to dinner. To make up for- uh…forgetting to pay you." _

'_What are you saying?' He thought suddenly, 'This is Sharona! And what about Trudy?' he asked himself, realising what his body was trying to make him do. _

"_Uh- that would be…great. Thank you, Adrian," Sharona smiled happily. _

_He had been picked up at 5:30 exactly, which was surprising to Monk because he knew that Sharona had to drop Benjy off at a friends for the night and it always took him a long time to carefully pack what he was bringing with him. God, he loved that kid sometimes. 'And his mom,' his subconscious said knowingly to him. Monk mentally shook off his thoughts when he opened the door to Sharona who looked absolutely stunning in a knee-length black dress. If that didn't throw his mind off-balance then dinner certainly had. Between the long stares she was giving him and how nice she looked in the dim lighting of the small (but very clean) Italian restaurant they had chosen, he could hardly concentrate on the single lock of misplaced hair on her head that needed to be fixed and the slight build-up of dust on the light bulb of the lamp at their table. _

_By the time they had arrived back at Monk's house he had already had multiple fights with himself about loving his late wife and the object of his current affections. _

"_Adrian," Sharona smiled up at him, "I had a very nice time, thank you."_

_It was then that Monk had realised he was sitting on his couch in the living room. Sharona placed her hand on Monk's shoulder and patted it gently. The look on her face was uncertain and Monk wasn't quite sure what it meant. What could she be uncertain about? Then he realised that she was moving her hand from his shoulder down his arm; finally she stopped at his wrist, almost visibly wondering what he would do if she tried to hold his hand. _

"_Uh, Sharona…" Monk started, but didn't finish as she made her decision and slid her hand into his. _

_He studied her face now; her eyebrows were furrowed in worry and confusion, her lips were turned up in a slight smile, and her eyes telling him everything she was thinking. Monk gasped, realising _exactly_ what it was she was doing, saying, and thinking. _

"_Adrian, can I…" Sharona started to say, but was quickly cut off by Monk sliding his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her closer, and placing his lips lightly on hers._

_Sharona inhaled sharply in shock, but allowed herself to relax into the kiss. They both remained completely still for a few seconds, until Monk pulled back just enough to look Sharona in the eyes. He leaned in for another kiss, but Sharona stopped him._

"_Adrian, I have to tell you something," she said carefully._

"_W-what?' Monk looked nervously at her, afraid of rejection. Of course she wouldn't like him like that, what was he thinking? _

"_I…I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it," she paused, "Adrian, I- I think I'm in l-l-love with you." _

_There, she said it. Right there on his couch, just after kissing him, and she wasn't sure what that made her feel. Maybe relieved, but also a little scared. After all, she wasn't sure what Adrian thought about all this. He could have thought she wasn't even real when he kissed her for all she knew. _

_Sharona watched as Monk's eyes grew wide in shock, and then a small smile appeared on his face, "You mean it?" he asked, gripping her hand._

"_Of course, Adrian," she smiled as Monk leaned in for another quick kiss._

"_I love you, too," he said as they parted, "I have for awhile." _

_They both smiled broadly and Monk put a hand on Sharona's un-sleeved shoulder. She looked at the hand quickly, and then looked back into Monk's eyes. He glanced at her lips, then back into her eyes, and finally leaned in to kiss her thoroughly and passionately. _

* * *

Monk smiled as he remembered what Sharona's lips felt like on his, it was so pleasant. So he decided to see what it felt like again. He walked over to the bed and kissed her lightly on the forehead, then with a little more pressure on her lips.

"I thought you were getting a drink," Sharona said as he pulled away.

"I changed my mind," Monk smiled and sat down on the side of the bed. They lay there for another hour before Sharona's cell phone rang.

She opened it quickly, "Hello?" pause, "Yes, Captain, we'll be there in an hour. Okay, bye."

"Do we have a case?" Monk asked while stroking Sharona's hair.

"Yes, at an orphanage downtown. We should probably shower and get cleaned up."

All Adrian Monk heard was one word. _Clean._


	2. Epistrophy

_AN: Hi, this is my first Monk fic, so I thought I'd introduce myself. Hi, I'm Krz. I like reviews a lot. Please review!_

Disclaimer: I don't own. Don't sue. Thanks.

_

* * *

_

_Clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean! _He needed to clean! What they did was dirty, messy, and unsanitary! He could feel the germs crawling all over him!

Monk shot out of the bed and sprinted into the bathroom. He turned the shower on as cold as he could get it, jumped in and began to scrub. He scrubbed and scrubbed and soaped and scrubbed some more. He scrubbed until he heard Sharona call his name from the doorway of the bathroom. He paused, realising he forgot to even close the door, and quickly continuing the scrubbing.

"Adrian? Adrian, it's okay!" Sharona said worriedly. She walked further into the bathroom, knowing what she'd find if she moved the shower curtain aside. She held her breath and yanked the curtain open.

There Monk stood, still scrubbing, creating frightening red marks on his back and arms. She quickly grabbed the scrub-brush out of his hands, tossed it aside, and pulled him into her arms. She whispered calming words into his ear until he had stopped shaking.

"It's okay. You're alright, Adrian," Sharona whispered while pulling him out of the shower slowly. Once she had gotten him dried and settled on the bed, she sat next to him and asked, "What's wrong, Adrian?"

"I-I-I don't know. It just happened. I was fine and then you- you said _clean_ and-and-and all I could see was _dirt _and _grime_ and _germs_ everywhere!" Monk said, visibly shaken, "I'm sorry, so sorry."

"No, Adrian! No! Don't be sorry. I understand."

Sharona hugged Monk then, loosely at first, the tighter as he began to wrap his arms around her as well.

"So do you think you can go today? I can call Captain Stottlemeyer and tell you can't go, he'll understand," Sharona said as she pulled back slightly from the hug.

"No! I mean- no, I'm fine now. Thank you, so much, Sharona," Monk paused for a second to stare into Sharona's eyes, and then swooped down to plant a sweet kiss on her lips, "I love you," he said.

"I know. I love you, too," she smiled and stood slowly.

They dressed relatively quickly and managed to be ready and leave in enough time to make it to the crime scene in the hour time-slot Sharona had set. Monk could tell she was trying to be careful with him, but he was grateful for it rather than aggravated. He could tell how much she loved him; just by the way she put up with him and helped him. It was her way of showing her affection and he loved her for it.

The crime scene was horribly dirty. Dirty and ashy. Monk looked around carefully at the remains of a building that once was a San Francisco orphanage. The building was mostly burnt. Monk noticed that it started from the left side then moved to the right. The residue on the left of the building was blacker and it was obvious that it had started there. Well, at least it was obvious to Monk.

"What do you see?" Sharona asked, as they walked over to the Captain.

"Uh, there was a fire…" Monk paused while Captain Stottlemeyer walked up to them.

"Yes, Monk, there was a fire," the Captain laughed, but continued, "We found traces of kerosene in the corner room on the bottom floor."

"Was it an office or a room that one of the children stayed in?" Monk asked, beginning his Zen Sherlock Holmes-like ritual.

"It was a bunk room, but only one child was in it at the time; a Zechariah Sullivan. He was taken to the hospital, but died on the way there."

"How old was he?"

"Twelve."

"Any family?"

"He was in an orphanage, Monk."

Monk paused and looked at the Captain then Sharona, "I k-knew that. So, this kid, you're certain that the fire was intended to kill him specifically?"

"We think so, the kerosene was all over his room and he was the only occupant. It had to be for him." The Captain looked certain.

"Who would want to kill a twelve year-old boy?" Sharona cut in, looking distraught and disgusted. It made her think about Benjy, and that something could happen to him like this. This kid was even younger than her own son. This sent her over the edge; she ran back towards her car, crying.

She was sitting in the driver's seat, sobbing, with the door open when Monk came running up to her.

"Sharona, what's wrong? You ran off so fast!" Then he saw her crying, and stopped talking to lean down and hug her, "Are you okay?"

"Yea," she sobbed, "I just got thinking. That kid was so young, what if something like that happened to Benjy? That would be so horrible!"

"It won't Sharona, I promise," he said, hugging her one last time, and then helping her out of the car, "The Captain said they sent all of the children who lived inside of the orphanage to school. They didn't want them to be in the way." They walked back to the Captain as Monk explained what he had found out after she ran away, which wasn't much that was useful.

"What are they doing with all the children that lived in the orphanage?" Sharona asked Captain Stottlemeyer, who was standing with the man who operated the orphanage.

"Uh, we send some to other orphanages in town that have room the rest go into foster care with volunteers that work at the orphanage. Almost everyone has somewhere to go," the man next to Stottlemeyer said, "I'm Jonathan Williams. I own the building and operate the orphanage," he offered his hand to shake.

Sharona shook it politely; he turned to Monk and offered his hand. Monk looked at it, considered, and then quickly shook it. Sharona was ready for him with a wipe. He took the wipe and thoroughly wiped his hands off.

"So, what do you mean that _almost_ all of the children have a place to stay?" Sharona asked, almost indignantly.

Jonathan Williams started to answer, but thought better of what he was originally going to say, and rephrased in his head, "Well, we have one, she's fifteen and uh…different, than everyone. It's hard to find her a place."

"Really? How's she different?" Sharona wondered aloud.

"Well, she has certain…quirks that uh…make her act differently, perform different procedures per se," he glanced at Monk, nervously.

"You mean this kid has OCD?" Sharona demanded.

"Uh- well, yea. She's gone through therapy and everything, but she- she'd still be hard to live with. We're still not sure where we're going to place her," Jonathan took in a deep breath, glancing between Monk and Sharona. She paused for a second, the pulled Monk away from the Captain and Jonathan.

"Why don't you take her, Adrian?' Sharona suggested.

"Are you crazy? No! I can't take care of a kid!" Monk said, arms waving wildly.

"Did you listen to him? He said she was fifteen. Benjy is fifteen and you take care of him all the time."

"I don't take care of him, he takes care of me!"

"Same thing, come on, Adrian, this kid needs someone. I'll be there with you most of the time anyway, please. For me?"

Monk sighed heavily, "How do you get me to do these things?"

"Yes, thank you, Adrian!" she cried, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

* * *

Jonathan Williams took them, meaning Monk, Sharona, and the Captain, to meet the teenager at the high school. Conveniently, this was also Benjamin Fleming's high school. They were lead through a series of confusing hallways until they reached a big, blue door that was labelled 'Music Building'. They entered, single file, and took the third left, into room 222b. 

"Jenner?" Jonathan said, motioning the others to a teenage girl sitting at the piano, playing some sort of jazzy bebop piece. As the music came to a close, the girl looked up at the person who had spoke to her. She immediately hopped up in surprise, and possibly fear.

"Mr Jonathan! I'm sorry, was I supposed to come back right after school? I wasn't sure because of… well, this morning," she said quickly, a slight English accent slipping through. She looked around at the rest of the group.

"No, you're not in trouble. Actually, I've come with good news! This is Adrian Monk," Jonathan motioned towards Monk, "he's volunteered to let you stay at his place until we can have the home fixed."

"Monk? Kind of like Thelonious Monk? Do you like music Mr Monk, play an instrument?" she asked the questions in quick succession.

"Uh- well, uh…Yea, I guess I like music. And I play the- the clarinet," Monk stuttered.

"You're alright then, Mr Monk. I'm Jennifer Teague, nice to meet you. So what did they bribe you with so that you'd keep me? I know you have to know about my little…'problem'."

"Actually, Jenner," Jonathan cut in, "Mr Monk and his assistant, Ms Fleming," he motioned toward Sharona, "volunteered to take you in."

"Yea," Sharona said, "we thought it would be fun."

Jennifer chuckled, "Fun. Obviously you've never met me. I'm not what you'd call fun, and I know it."

"That's okay, neither is Adrian, but I still keep him around," Sharona chuckled as well.

* * *

They picked up Benjy, gathered into Sharona's car and headed to Monk's house. Jennifer counted stop lights the whole way there. 

"Don't bother," Monk said softly, "I've counted them a bunch of times by now, there's twenty-eight."

"Aw man, now you took all the fun out of it!" she said, smiling.

"You consider that fun?" Monk asked, confused.

"Of course not," Jennifer looked incredulous, "that was sarcasm."

"Oh."

"Don't mind him," Benjy said innocently, "he never knows when someone is using sarcasm. Especially Mom."

Sharona glanced over at Monk, who was staring at her now, and smiled. This didn't slip past Jennifer who had been observing them since she had met them first in the school. She noticed how closely they stood together and how far apart Monk stood from anyone but her. She also noticed the slight touches they shared, and the looks, and the smiles.

The car was parked and the passengers exited once they had arrived at Monk's house. They entered the overly-cleaned, hospital-smelling place of residence in a single-file line, which made sense as it would be hard to walk through the door all together.

As soon as Jennifer walked into the living room she stopped and dropped her bag, "So…I see you're a cleaner."


	3. Nutty

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading and please review!

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money. No sue.

* * *

"A cleaner?" Benjy asked curiously.

"Mr Monk has OCD, too, right?" Jennifer asked, more for the sake of asking than for an answer, Benjy nodded anyway, "Well, with OCD the obsessions vary, as do the resulting compulsions that are forced upon the person with the disorder. There are cleaners, like Mr Monk, counters, like myself, hoarders, defilers, checkers, repeaters, arrangers, aggressors, and some others that are a little harder to define."

"Oh, I think I get it," Benjy said, "how do you know so much about OCD?"

"Benjamin," Jennifer laughed, "I have it."

"I know, but you don't have all those problems too, do you?"

"No, my therapist taught me some stuff. I'm just a counter, well and I have a thing for symmetry," she smiled at the perfect placement of pictures on the mantle.

* * *

_Jennifer Teague woke up at the same time every morning. It wasn't by an alarm clock, or even because she had to. She woke up at the same time because some pesky little demons inside her head counted every second of every day. They told her what time to eat and what time to wake. When she was in perfect consciousness she didn't notice it at all, but she always knew what time it was anyway. She was like a human clock, every second ticking away in her head. _

_Yes, Jennifer Teague woke up every morning at the same time, well every morning except this particular morning. On this particular morning something was making her sweat profusely and making her unable to take a breath. She opened her eyes experimentally, wondering what could break her of her routine. It was then she saw the smoke filling her room and the flames bombarding the hallway outside her door. She shot up, gathered her essentials (school bag, sheet music, iPod, and the like), and pulled her young 'roommate' out of her bed. _

_The young girl that she shared the room with as of late was named Melissa Down, and she was ten years old. Ten years, seven months, and eight days; Jennifer had counted. She pulled the young girl down the hallway, along wither school bag stuffed full of 'essentials' and the girl's smaller, less stuffed bag. The girl finally awoke enough to walk for herself, but she was confused. She didn't know where she was going or what was happening, but she had sense enough to trust Jennifer in this situation. _

_They reached the front doorway after careful avoidance of the scorching heat and flames. They shoved out of the rubble at the front of the building and through the half-burning front doorway. They stumbled onto the grass in the front lawn of the building, next to another group of kids who had found their way out of the disaster area. _

"_Teague and Down. Good! I think that's almost everybody," Jonathan had said, looking preoccupied. It was like he was worried about something; not about someone not surviving, but the opposite. Like he wanted someone to be stuck in there. Why were they only _almost_ everybody? Who was left?_

_It was then that Jennifer heard the phrase that made everything click inside her head, "Where's Zechariah?"_

_Before she knew it she was running full-speed into the building taking the twenty-seven steps it took to reach his room. She saw him lying, unconscious, on his floor at his door and she did the unthinkable. She stopped counting. She stopped counting and scooped him up into her arms and ran, full-speed, toward the exit. They literally tumbled out of the doorway in front of the burning inferno that was their home. _

_She stopped thinking for about an hour. She didn't move on her own until Jonathan tapped her on the shoulders, gave her a blanket, and informed her she had to go to school anyway because he had no place for her. He also informed her, but without pain in his eyes, that despite her noble attempt to save young Zechariah he still passed. _

* * *

Dinner was a quiet and quick affair. The day was Tuesday, so of course they had Chicken Pot Pie, which Jennifer found pleasing. 

"So, you have a food schedule?" questioned Jennifer as Sharona prepared the meal.

"Yes we do," Sharona answered, smiling. Jennifer didn't miss the telling 'we' that almost confirmed her theory about Mr Monk and Sharona.

"I used to eat food in a schedule like that, but my therapist kind of got me away from that," she smiled back at Sharona.

"Really? How'd he go about doing that?"

"She, and it was a part of behaviour therapy. I had to intentionally eat different foods at different times and other such things."

Sharona considered for a second, "Wow, and did it work?"

"Yea," Jennifer knew where Sharona was going with this and decided to phrase carefully, "but it was the single hardest thing I've ever done and will ever do, and I'm not even done with it yet."

"Oh."

At that moment Monk walked in, "Sharona, are you sure you had your car seats washed? I feel like there is something germ-like crawling on me."

"Adrian," Sharona sighed, "go take a shower then, dinner will be ready by the time you finish."

Monk paused, nodded, and walked out of the kitchen in an orderly and symmetric fashion. Jennifer smiled as she watched him go. It was like watching herself walk a few years back. She once had the perfect strides, evenly distributed and always accounted for, like he did, but she got out of it. She was never so grateful for anything in her life. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sharona watching him leave as well.

So," Jennifer said smugly after Monk had completely left the kitchen, "how long have you two been…together?"

Sharona's eyes widened in shock, but it wasn't a how-could-you-suggest-that shock, it was a how-did-you-know-that shock. She quickly switched the tells of her eyes, but it was too late, Jennifer had noticed, "I don't know what you're talking about," Sharona murmured.

"Sure you do. I've seen the looks you give each other and the way he lets you touch him. And just now, you watched him walk out of the room with longing," Jennifer smirked in a way that reminded Sharona of Monk's I-just-solved-the-case smirk, "You can't get much past me."

Sharona blushed, "Well, it's only been a day. We kind of…sort of had…our first date last night. It went differently than either of us expected…"

Jennifer laughed at Sharona's embarrassment, "Great, just make sure I'm there to see how you handle telling Benjamin."

They both shared a laugh at that and finished preparing dinner and the dinner table. They sat down and began to eat when Jennifer paused and stared at Sharona's hands.

"You're left handed!" she says excitedly.

Sharona and Monk share a confused glance, but Benjamin understands almost immediately, "Oh! It'll be symmetrical. Mom, you and Jennifer are left handed and Mr Monk and I are right handed. It makes it even. Jennifer likes even."

Jennifer smiles at Benjy, "Yea, I like even."

* * *

The next morning Sharona and Benjy arrived at exactly 7:30am to pick up Monk and Jennifer and take the kids to school. On the way Benjy and Jennifer talked about school and their teachers while Monk and Sharona quietly and secretly held hands across the front seat. This, of course, wasn't missed by Jennifer, but she didn't say anything. 

"So where are you from?" Benjy asked, asking the question that they had all been wondering at least a little bit.

"I was born in England. Lived there too, until I was eight, then we moved here to San Francisco and we lived in a house in a nice neighbourhood until…well, they passed."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Can I ask how they passed?" Benjy said quietly.

"Benjy!" Sharona scolded.

"No, it's okay. My therapist says it's good to talk about it with other people anyway," Jennifer assured, "They were in a…traffic collision. Someone ran a red light."

"I'm so sorry," Sharona comforted.

"Really, don't worry about it. It was a long time ago. I still miss them, but I've gotten past it."

They arrived at the school within ten minutes, Benjy and Jennifer hopped out and waved goodbye, and Monk and Sharona drove off towards the station. After a few hours of brainstorming and idea-passing with the Captain and Randy they decided to go visit the burnt-down orphanage again. They pulled up at the remains of the building, got out, and Monk started to look around more carefully.

"So they said the fire was purposely set in Zechariah's room, but who would want him dead, and why?" Monk said mostly to himself.

"Could it have been any of the other kids?" Sharona ran the idea by Monk.

"No," Monk said, using a cloth to move a piece of rubble by where they believed the fire to have been started, "they wouldn't have had anything to gain from it."

"What would someone gain by killing an orphan? What could he have possibly had that anyone would have wanted; it's not like he had access to any money, even if he had any."

Monk looked up quickly, his eyes widened in excitement. He pulled Sharona closer and kissed her passionately.

"What-what was that for?" Sharona asked dazedly as they pulled away.

"That's it! He had an inheritance, he must have, and someone who worked there or for the government would get it if he were killed!" Monk smiled widely, a real smile, "Thank you, Sharona!"


	4. Evidence

"So what you're saying is you think someone killed the boy for his inheritance?" Captain Stottlemeyer clarified.

"Yes, and we need you to find out who receives it after his passing," Sharona said quickly.

"Okay, we'll check that for you Monk, but I'm not entirely convinced yet," the Captain said, and then told Randy to go find out the information they were looking for.

They picked Benjy and Jennifer up from school at 3:30pm. Jennifer came out carrying two additional instrument cases, one small and box-shaped, and the other medium sized and obviously guitar-shaped.

"Sorry about all the extra stuff," Jennifer said jokingly as she tried to shove all of the cases into the back of Sharona's car, "I ran out of room in my band lockers. Well, band locker and I share one with a friend, but she needed the room in hers for tonight."

"It's okay," Sharona smiled at Jennifer, who looked like she was trying to shove an elephant into a mouse-hole, "why do you need two lockers anyway?"

"I play four instruments for three of the school's bands and I'm picking up a fifth as a part of behaviour therapy," Jennifer paused, but Sharona looked confused, "Five isn't an even or symmetrical number."

"Oh," Sharona said as they got everything situated inside the car.

Sharona and Monk sat, as usual, in the front seat, while Benjy and Jennifer squeezed into the back seat with their school bags and Jennifer's instruments.

"So, I know that one's a guitar…what's the rectangular one?" Benjy asked curiously. He moved the guitar case onto his lap and examined it.

Jennifer was about to answer when someone else cut her off, "Clarinet," it was Mr Monk.

"Yes, clarinet," Jennifer smiled, admiring Monk's observation skills. The whole way back to Monk's house they spoke of many different subjects, everyone was getting to know each other. It so happened that when they entered the house they were asking Jennifer questions about what it was like inside of the orphanage.

"It's not so bad after awhile. You get used to it, and it's not like you're neglected and poor or anything," Jennifer says, "Especially if your family had money, you get a small allowance out of that in addition to the money you get on holidays from the orphanage staff."

"Did you have any inheritance?" Monk asked, suddenly very interested. This could be the information he had been needing to solve the case.

"I did, not many of us do right now," Jennifer paused, "Well, actually, now it's only myself that does."

"What do you mean?" Sharona asked, realising where Monk was leading this.

Jennifer looked back and forth between Monk and Sharona, knowing they were up to something, but she continued on anyway, "Zechariah was the only other person with money at the home. He had probably twice what I do and it wasn't even protected."

"Protected?" Monk and Sharona asked at the same time.

"If I die before I inherit mine then it goes to charity. It was in my parents' will, like they were preparing for anything that could possibly happen."

"And Zechariah," Monk said, "his wasn't protected like that?"

"No," Jennifer said with realisation, "but that is what you think happened, isn't it? You think Mr Jonathan set fire to Zechariah's room so he could get his inheritance!"

"Wait, why Jonathan Williams?" Monk asked, almost excitedly.

"You didn't know?" Jennifer smiled widely, "As our legal guardian, Mr Jonathan gets possession of anything we have after we pass. It's happened once before, but not by his hands. One of the little girls happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was shot in a robbery at a convenience store. I heard Mr Jonathan talking about receiving the money she had. He told us he was going to use it to make the home better, but he never did."

"Adrian," Sharona said excitedly, grabbing Monk by the arms and giving him a quick kiss right there in the middle of the room, in front of Benjy even, "we have to go tell the Captain!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes twenty-three seconds after Monk and Sharona had left Benjy turned to face Jennifer from where he was still sitting on the couch.

"Was I imagining things or did my mom just kiss Mr Monk?" He said, still in shock.

Jennifer chuckled, "Yep, and she probably won't even realise she did that in front of you until she's on the way back home."

Now Benjy smiled and began to laugh with Jennifer, "So, how long have they been…you know…together?"

"Couple days," Jennifer said shortly. She didn't want to get too much into the subject; she thought it was something that his mother should discuss with him. She pulled out her guitar from its case. The guitar itself was a left-handed Gibson, not particularly special, but she still loved it like a mother would her only child.

"I guess I'll have to ask her about it," he watched her as she began to pluck out notes on the guitar, "You play guitar left handed too?"

"Yes, but I play violin right handed so I can know how to do chords on right-handed guitars too." Jennifer began to pluck out the guitar line from 'American Baby' by the Dave Matthews Band.

"Hey, I know that song. I heard it on the radio." Benjy smiled.

"You don't know the Dave Matthews Band? I have to teach you the wonders of the Dave Matthews Band!" Jennifer said excitedly and began to search through her iPod for their music.

After two hours and three Dave Matthews CDs later, Sharona and Monk came back into the house smiling and happy that the case was solved. Sharona's ears perked at the sounds coming from Jennifer's iPod dock.

"Dave Matthews, really?" She said in disbelief.

"They're amazing. Dave Matthews himself is a little crazy, but that's not always a bad thing. Makes for great music," Jennifer laughed, "I'm teaching Benjamin all about them."

"So, did you arrest the bad guy?" Benjy asked while looking through the music list.

"Yes we did, thank you for the information Jennifer," Sharona smiled and pulled Monk, who was standing to her right looking almost afraid by the music, closer to her by his wrist, "Uh, Benjy, I…uh…realise I did something earlier that might have confused you earlier…"

Benjy smiled widely and laughed, "I guess you finally got together? I've been waiting for it since I was twelve, Mom."

Sharona smiled at her son's perceptiveness, "I guess Jennifer and Adrian aren't the only observant ones around here, huh."

"Nope," Benjy said and started on his homework.

* * *

In the weeks after the case was solved all four of them became much closer, like an eccentric family. In the months following that the orphanage was repaired and a new owner and operator instated and they were faced with a decision.

"We could be her foster parents, Benjy and I could move in and we could kind of be a family," Sharona suggested carefully, not wanting to say something that would make Monk uncomfortable.

He surprised her by smiling broadly, showing teeth, "That sounds great!"

Exactly ten months eight days and fourteen hours since the case was solved, all of their worlds changed again. This time it was Monk who made the initial step forward, much to everyone's surprise. He sat them all down in his living room and announced an announcement he had to make.

"Sharona and I have been…thinking, and we…uh, we decided that we want to make you officially our daughter, Jennifer." Monk said nervously.

Jennifer smiled and laughed with glee, "Really?"

"Yes, but," Monk paused, "they won't let us adopt you as a couple unless we're married…"

"Nice segue…" Jennifer chuckled, but it was Benjy who surprised all of them with his response to Monk's comment.

"So when's the wedding then?" Benjy smiled knowingly at his mother.

"Couple months," Sharona smiled shyly and showed Benjy and Jennifer the engagement ring on her left hand.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review! Last chapter will be up soon! I promise. 


	5. I'm Confessin' That I Love You

This is the last chapter, thank you for reading. Enjoy!

* * *

The wedding was a small affair, with just close friends and family on both sides in attendance. The ceremony was beautiful and simple and beautifully simple. Sharona wore a beautiful white wedding dress and Monk wore the traditional black suit with a black bow-tie that took him and Jennifer forty-eight minutes to get just perfectly straight, cleaned, and symmetrical.

The reception was a little larger and much more lively with Jennifer and a few of her friends from school acting as the wedding band, a task that Jennifer jumped for when offered to her by Sharona and Monk. She watched from the stage as everyone finished their meals and began to get restless. Benjy and she had chosen the song for the newlyweds' first dance. It was a unanimous choice between the both of them when they first set upon the task of finding the perfect song. As well, as an additional surprise, Jennifer had taught the lead guitar part to Benjy in the time whenever Monk and Sharona were out solving cases. It was going to be a happy surprise for Sharona, who had been dropping hints to Jennifer over the past months about teaching Benjy at least one of the instruments she knew.

Jennifer figured it was now or never as she brought the background music they were playing at the moment to a close. She stood up and turned her mic on and Benjy did the same. The smiled at each other, knowing that their parents were going to love their surprise.

"Hello everyone," Jennifer's voice (and accent) amplified over the entire room, "in case you somehow missed this, I'm Jennifer…well I guess it's not Teague anymore, but Monk. Which, I like by the way, now my initials aren't 'JET' anymore, but a misspelled version of the word 'gem'," everyone chuckled at this, "Anyway, I'm here to get this party started. Well, myself and Benjamin that is, who will be accompanying us for the lovely couple's first dance.

"We chose this song immediately when asked to pick out the perfect song for our parents. It wasn't a hard choice, considering Benjamin and I are completely obsessed with this particular band since I first introduced him to them the first week we met. And even though the song doesn't seem like your perfect candidate for a couple's-first-dance song, trust us, it is. We know you'll understand, Mum and Dad. We love you."

Jennifer counted out the first few measures of the song and the band began to play. It was a more fast-paced song- exactly what Sharona had requested. She didn't wasn't the usual slow-dance love song that everyone else played at their weddings, she wanted something more original- like their own personalities. Adrian didn't really care; he was too terrified at the thought of dancing anyway. The song was 'So Right' by the Dave Matthews Band. Sharona and Adrian both smiled once they recognised the music and noticed Benjy playing lead guitar and began to dance with the music, enjoying this perfect day.

_Roll out down to midnight  
Then roll on downtown 'til it's light  
Because tomorrow we may die  
Oh, but tonight we're dancing in the faint light  
Don't you rob yourself of what you're feeling  
Don't rob yourself of all that you could be  
Roll hard 'til midnight  
Roll 'til it's light _

Come on now  
Stay up and make some memories  
Yeah, with us now  
Roll the red carpet out with friends  
To whom, to love and roll on

Our love is so right  
I won't waste a minute here tonight  
Our love is so right  
And tonight my dance is all about you

To midnight love you,  
Roll on and run the red lights  
You know the game now is keep it tight

Oh, how I love your pretty rock-roll kisses  
Come on and stay with me  
Roll on and run the red lights  
Come on, this love is so right

Stay up and make some memories  
Yeah, with us now  
To roll the red carpet out with friends  
Oh, to love and roll on now

Our love is so right  
I can taste  
We're in it here tonight  
Our love is so right  
And tonight my dance  
Is all about you

I'm going crazy  
And it's all 'cause of you (it's all 'cause of you)  
I'm going under, over you, over you...

This time is so alive  
Everybody's tranced, dancing tonight  
Oh so beautiful, and so strange  
Oh, it was empty until you came...

Our love is so right  
Forget the clouds that rain on your light  
Our love is so right  
I'll not forget how you look right now

Our love is so right  
Remember let's just move together  
Our love is so right  
I swear it would last forever

Our love is so right  
Forget the clouds that rain down on you  
Our love is so right... 

As the song came to an end Sharona and Adrian parted and both walked up to the stage hand-in-hand. Sharona grabbed Jennifer in a tight hug, "It was perfect, thank you," she let go and looked over to Benjy, "and you! You can play the guitar! This is the greatest gift ever! Thank you so much!"

Jennifer and Benjy smiled and at the same time said, "No problem."

Jennifer broke away and walked back up to the microphone and began the rest of the reception, "Okay everybody, now it's your turn. Have fun!"

The band began to play something else that Jennifer wasn't paying any attention to. She was too busy walking up to Adrian and hugging him as tightly as she could.

"I love you, Jennifer." He said, hugging her back.

"Love you too, Dad."


End file.
